No Trespassing

No Trespassing

Find it in real life on South West Boulevard near Washington in KCMO.  It's not as fabulously pink, of course.  And I really wanted to trespass because the building has stuff in it although at least half of it is defunct.

Art print available here.

IN-STA-GRAM!

Roses One, Two, and Three

Roses I

Roses II

Roses III

I was really happy when playing around with this image that the roses showed up clearly and the wood grain underneath was obvious, too.  I plucked these from my back yard and my neighbor's bush (it's an empty house).  

Roses II (aka Bouquet) is available at Society6.

Thistle

Thistle

Thistles are SO COOL, but remember to bring good gloves when harvesting!  They are abundant in our part of town as well, and they really don't get touched much, for obvious reasons.  Nature's armor works well.

Tillie's Closeup

Tillie II

White hot Tillie, Her grey fur really picked up the light.

Half & Half Zevon

Zevon

This is one of my favorite pictures of our dearly departed Zevon.  He was begging for food, as usual, and had bright eyes and a clear voice.  I miss him everyday and have used him as a muse since the beginning.  

Queen Anne's Lace III

Queen Anne's Lace III

Feel the breezeeeee.

Available at Society6.

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Queen Anne's Lace II

Queen Anne's Lace II

Another shot from the same wild field off Troost Avenue, the unofficial racial and socio-economic dividing line of our city.  You don't really think about all that stuff when looking at all these beautiful flowers waving in the wind.

Available as an art print--> Society6

Queen Anne's Lace I

Queen Anne's Lace

My oh my, how I love Queen Anne's Lace!  Around the urban core of Kansas City, we have plenty of vacant lots and "waste spaces" that nature fills in with local wild flowers, and QAL runs amok.  Beware!  There are two lookalikes--Bishop's Flower and Poison Hemlock.  Bishop's isn't as invasive and is part of the wild carrot family, but Hemlock is POISONOUS, as the name indicates.  If you cut a stem of any of these, you'll know Lace and Bishop because they smell sweet like carrots, and Hemlock smells bad.  Just don't eat any of them to be safe.

Available as an art print on Society6. 

Yarrow

Yarrow

This yarrow was picked in my backyard, a transfer from a neighbor's house.  Right now flowers are a big joy in my life, because I can finally grow some due to a few trees being cut down and finally getting some sun.  It's a big deal for this country girl to grow a thing.

Tulsa House

House, Tulsa, Oklahoma

I drove around the morning after MayFest and took pictures on the east side of Tulsa, near the rail road tracks and industrial area.  I manipulated this image quite a bit to make it both creepy and punky.  It was a spotty neighborhood, but definitely working class and modest.

Art print available at Society6.

IN-STA-GRAAAMMMM!!!

Vinny

Vinny

Other foster-cat-turned-muse, this is Vinny.  He showed up one night and jumped right into our hearts!  Luckily, we were able to find him a home pretty quickly in the neighborhood and he's living with some dudes and a dog.  He's super '90s here.

Available on Society6.

Tillie

Tillie

One of my foster kittens this year, Tillie, was a delight (they all were) and photogenic beyond belief.  She and her brother Torrie (they've been renamed) live in a wonderful home in the KC area together with another cat.  Knowing that they are in a happy home is worth the sadness I felt when saying goodbye.  But they are my muses (as all of cats seem to be) and I still love them.

Kitten Clover

Clover, 2003

Photo credit: Jennifer Whiteford
This is Clover in November 2003, when she was a wee babe and cuter than all other wee babes (except her bro Zevon).

Lot A Burger

Fast Food Sign, Tulsa, Oklahoma

Taken in Tulsa, this place seems like a fabulous throw-back.  I cannot, however, pull myself away from Braum's when I'm south, so I didn't sample the food.  Also, they were closed...

Available framed, 8 x 8, on Society6.

Quick Digital Sketches: Still Life: Vase

Ceramic Heart Vase

I've been playing around with my computer and doing what basically any seven-year-old can probably do now, but I'm An Old so my time has come.  This is a digitally manipulated picture of a vase I made.  I was trying to take a decent picture with a poorly-made homemade light box to document all my ceramics adventures from this year.  As I was trying to adjust the light and whatnot, I hit a wall and just started screwing around.  That is how this series was born.

Some of them have been uploaded to Society6 and are available for purchase, because why not.  They are all small, though, because most of them were taken on my phone and aren't high enough resolution to blow up and print on a T-shirt or whatever.

Don't forget, Instagram is my jam ---> @eightyacresart 

McCartney

McCartney
salvaged wood, vinyl, paint, paper
23 x 37 inches

Another doubled-up background, this was the first "big" piece.  As with Hardy Stock, this one has been reworked, and actually turned upside down, and I'm glad I was brave enough to keep going.

I was listening to an interview with Paul McCartney when I was making it (the first time) and couldn't separate it from the finished product, hence the title. 

The Mother and Also the Queen

The Mother and Also the Queen
salvaged wood, paint, vinyl, tea bag papers
15 x 19 inches (diptych)

Diptychs are harder to hang, but I don't care.  I painted this and sanded it so many times, including the layers of paper and vinyl...

Living Here, Living There

Living Here, Living There
salvaged wood, vinyl, paint
12 x 30 inches

Oh, hello, monochrome!  I put so many pieces of vinyl on this my eyes almost crossed.

There's a metal push pin showing through from when the shelf was being leveled in its closet (I presume) and plenty of background peeking out because I painted and sanded the top after completing the vinyl layer.  This was a big turning point for me, allowing the vinyl to lay on top of itself and keeping it monochromatic.  

Big Smoke

Big Smoke
salvaged wood, paint, paper, vinyl
23 x 37 inches

This is two of the shelves put together.  This is one of the largest pieces I've done in any series, and next to some others' work, it's still pretty small.  

The paper (painted and sanded on the right section) is from Kansas Farmer magazine, 1975.

I'm still iffy on the title.  Maybe something like "Burning the Fields" or something.  I feel like I need to keep it in the farmy realm, but not so literal.

Hardy Stock

Hardy Stock
salvaged wood, vinyl, paint
33.5 x 11 inches

The background here is actually the first attempt.  I didn't like it, painted over it, and incorporated it into the much improved final version.  

Broad are thy Skies

Broad Are Thy Skies
salvaged wood, paint, vinyl
12 x 35 inches

More shelving from the apartment find.  I was reading a book of Kansas poems, and many of the titles in the series came from lines or phrases pulled from those old poems.  (The book was published in the 1920s.)